Wednesday, September 10, 2014

During the fifth month post-op

Climbing the 5.9 arete at las vias del Bosque on La Barrosa 

During the fifth month post-op we climbed several times with ropes, including a couple of trips to las vias del Bosque on La Barrosa, where my 12 year old daughter climbed the following 5.9 arete for her first time:

Ceci top ropes the 5.9 arete

Ceci prepares for a tricky hand traverse

That same day, I managed to redpoint a 5.11a face called la Placa Lista that I haven't been able to do for years (7 years?). It's not that the route is so difficult, but it does require a big high-step with the left leg (my revised hip) and there's not much way around that. It took me more than two years post-op before I finally recovered the necessary flexibility.

Tim and Gaby at the start of la Placa Lista

After the crux move of la Placa Lista

Finishig up la Placa Lista

Ceci also managed to top rope the 11a face climb with one hang


Ceci climbing la Placa Lista

At the end of the day, when I started the hike down, I found Ceci in a tree, like this



Another day we went to the routes above the autodromo where Martín and I climbed a 5.9 gear route for the first time.

Hero pose near the start of a 5.9 gear route

Butt shot on the crux


Martín with one of those funky crack moves

Martín in the exit slot

Yet another day we were back to las vias del Bosque where we climbed a short 5.10d called Rock Nacional.

Starting up Rock Nacional



Martín climbing Rock Nacional

Martín higher up on the route 

Me on the top out

We also top roped a stout 5.11 that I need to get back to and redpoint


Top roping a stout 5.11
First a roof

Then an awkward position before entering into the crux

The kids kept busy with their own creations

Rafael and Ceci with beautiful light



















Friday, September 5, 2014

More bouldering during the fourth month post op

A beautiful sunset after a day of bouldering with Cecilia

For the past four years my main two physical activities have been hiking and climbing. At this point (seven months post-op for the HR and two and a half years after the revision) I try to do at least a couple of good hikes each week (around 6 miles each) and climb at least three days each week (if not outdoors then in my home gym). During the fourth and fifth month post-op I still used trekking poles for my hikes, although I've stopped using them since about six months post-op. In the case of the revision surgery I used trekking poles on my regular hikes until about a year after the surgery.

During the fourth month post-op, I continued with as much outdoor bouldering as I could. One sector of boulders we went to several times is an area in the woods on La Barrosa known as Aracnofobia.

An easy warm up boulder in the sector "Aracnofobia". 

Aracnofobia is actually the name of a V10 roof problem, the first boulder of this difficulty done on La Barrosa. Off to the side (and sharing the same top out moves) is a traverse that is quite possibly the hardest V4 on La Barrosa. This boulder is my nemesis. On my best shot, I've only managed to do the problem in two seperate parts (last year) but I've never sent the whole thing in one continuous push.

Getting into the crux of a difficult V4 traverse

I'm probably getting ready to fall at this point

At any rate, just coming back to work this boulder was an important milestone for me. More than four years ago, before I had my first hip surgery (the botched HR on my left hip) the boulder, literally, almost destroyed me. At the time, I was already planning to have my left hip resurfaced. Well, one day I was working the problem and getting close to doing it. I was surprised how well my hips were working, because the boulder involves aggressive left heel hooks and a very compressed exit move. Afterwards I went home and told my wife that maybe I didn't need surgery after all, at least not yet. My hips had done pretty well that day. But the next day, on the left side, my lower back and upper leg muscles cramped up so painfully that I couldn't sit or stand without experiencing intense pain. The only position where I could find some relief was lying flat on my back on the floor with my legs bent. This intense pain went on continuously for several days and was, by far, the worst pain my hips have ever caused me. I was unable to work, or even sit upright in a car seat. Finally, after about five days the pain subsided, but my left leg continued to feel numb until I had the surgery. So this is why coming back to work the boulder, last year, after revision surgery and (even better) coming close to sending it, was a big deal for me. I honestly think, with a little bit of luck, I have a good chance of doing the boulder this year. We'll see how that goes.

Another area we went to was "El Boulder en el Bosque", which I wrote about in the other blog.

Martín doing a warm up problem on el Boulder en el Bosque

We worked the beautiful (soft) V4 roof problem "Techo Clásico".


Martín starting into the crux of Techo Clásico after finishing the easy part

This is a problem that I used to hike without pads some time back, but I haven't sent the problem in about 10 years. I came close, but didn't have the endurance to do the crux move without resting.

After passing a little, tricky part

Starting the crux



Only a couple of hard moves left















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Monday, September 1, 2014

Back to the boulders 15 weeks post-op

Armed with crash pads in the sector of boulders known as "La Cabezona°

After about two months post-op, the resurfacing began to improve at a faster rate than the revision had. Of course this may be mainly because I spent almost a year and a half suffering from the effects of the botched resurfacing before the revision. I had even given up going out for short walks for the last couple of months before I saw Koen De Smet for the first time, because of the pain. On the right side, I really didn't have much pain before the resurfacing and I was able to continue hiking and climbing right up to the surgery.

At any rate, after the revision I really didn't feel ready to start bouldering outdoors until about 10 months post-op. However with the resurfacing I felt ready to go much sooner. At around 15 weeks post-op I headed out with Martín. a friend from Necochea, to do some bouldering on La Barrosa. We went to a sector known as "La Cabezona".

Martín climbing a warm up boulder'

We both sent this V3 after a few tries:

Martín sends a V3

I managed to climb throught the crux roof on this V3 but I wasn't ready yet to force the easier highball exit







A week later I hiked up on top of La Barrosa, with my wife, Gaby, to boulder in a sector called La Media Tierra:

Gaby on top of La Barrosa

Gaby did some face climbs

Gaby climbing in La Media Tierra



There are several excellent V2s in La Media Tierra

A classic V2

I'm blocking off on a small, but positive, crimper

To reach the ginormous jug

Then a big move

and the top out

I also climbed on the face



I couldn't do this problem



but I managed to do some other ones